Fox?!

Mr. G

Just went to the back door to find our cat (old and a bit stupid) with loads of hair shed out crying. He's fine now but I have a feeling it was the fox having a go at him as we've seen him outside before and just thinking he's coming back for dessert.

Anyone else on here had issues with foxes and cats? Is there anyway that I could disencourage him from staying nearby?

I'm keeping both cats in now just to be safe.
Cheers

Themadhouse

Would you consider keeping the cat indoors? If he's old and the fox is looking for food I would hate to think what would happen...
Its very difficultto keep foxes out, lots of old wives tales but really I dont think any work.

Dogs urine is one myth.

MadYaker

Dogs urine might work. Foxes will generally avoid areas where dogs are present. Not sure how you'd go about collecting dogs piss though....

mark_m360

MadYaker wrote: »

Dogs urine might work. Foxes will generally avoid areas where dogs are present. Not sure how you'd go about collecting dogs piss though....

I have a dog and that doesn't stop the foxes from venturing into our garden. She chases them off but they come back at night as the sensor light keeps turning on when its dark. I have also seen a few of them in the general area.

Read this article, it may help.
http://www.dspca.ie/Foxes

MadYaker

We had a dog for 11 years, before we got her there would always be foxes around at night but while we had her I never saw 1. Now that she's dead they are back again.

dodderangler

Wolf crap is supposed to be the best for keeping them away if somehow you could get some of that

Pumpkinseeds

I've heard that Lion poop is great for keeping cats away, maybe it'd work with foxes. Amazon sell the lions poop pellets. It could be anything though, I think mostly cats and foxes tend to leave each other alone. If the cat is old it might be getting a bit confused as well which could make it very stressed. It probably is best to keep them indoors if you can.

FoxyVixen

Could it be another younger cat attacked yours? Not necessarily a fox. I'd say cats would attack foxes more often than the other way around.

Ever try a scarecrow? Even tie a plastic bag to the clothes line so it flaps in the wind and discourages it visiting. Sometimes its the simpler solutions which work more accurately.

ETA: if it's a vixen, your cat may have got too close to its cubs inciting such an aggressive response - if it was indeed the fox that caused injury to your cat. Keep the cat indoors is my best advice. It being elderly wouldn't give it much weight in a conflict.

syklops

I know a woman whose elderly yorkie was taken by a fox. As another poster suggested, could you keep the cat indoors?

The only other thing Id advise involves two barrels, and they don't carry beer.

Mr. G

Sorry guys for not getting back to ye- We're keeping them in at night now. Mainly because one of them is a bit stupid as he's a bit slow.

Apparently some neighbour was out shooting up the road with a local shooting club, the fox had an "accident" and that was the end of it. Haven't seen him since. Up until that we actually saw him staring up at us in the garden in the middle of the day, he ran off then but actually came very near the back door and had already had an attempt at some other animals, but since it was in the middle of the day in broad sunlight I thought was a bit strange obviously.

We don't have time for a dog really. But our neighbours have a few and their next door so I'm not sure if that would work. @MadYaker (if that's your name!) No piss isn't an option :eek:

Thanks guys for y'er help!

Mr. G

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I've heard that Lion poop is great for keeping cats away, maybe it'd work with foxes. Amazon sell the lions poop pellets. It could be anything though, I think mostly cats and foxes tend to leave each other alone. If the cat is old it might be getting a bit confused as well which could make it very stressed. It probably is best to keep them indoors if you can.

We have cats so not an option